RAJKOT: As many as 38 persons were arrested on Thursday for setting up traps to catch wild animals in Gir-Somnath district but the forest department ruled out fears of lion poaching, citing forensic evidence.
As many as 56 persons were detained on Wednesday after a lion cub got stuck in one of the traps set up by persons who belong to a nomadic community from Than taluka of Surendranagar district.
The community members used to hunt small animals to extract oil to be used as traditional medicine including aphrodisiacs. They used to hunt for monitor lizards, foxes and other small animals.
The forest officials also found four more traps near the area where the lion cub had got trapped in the snare. It was found that a fox had also got stuck in one of the traps and was rescued by forest officials.
Chief conservator of forest Junagadh, K Ramesh told TOI, “Till now, whatever forensic evidence we have, we can say that this is not a case of lion poaching. The lion cub got trapped by chance. If their intention had been to poach on lions, they would have used bigger traps like ones used by poachers in 2007.”
The traps found were 3-4 inches in diameter which are very small to trap a lion, he said, adding that those recovered were meant for smaller animals.
On Wednesday, the forest officials had detained Habib Parmar (60) and his accomplices Rajesh Parmar (22), Mani Parmar (55) and Aslam Parmar (43) from the spot where the lion cub had got trapped.
Habib was attacked by a lioness and had got himself admitted in Veraval Civil hospital. However, he fled from there, raising suspicion of poaching. He was later caught from a vehicle in Vadala village of Junagadh.
Later, the forest department teams and police of Gir-Somnath, Bhavnagar and Junagadh districts detained 56 people — 26 from Sihor and as many others who were travelling in truck from Una to Sihor.
Of the 38 arrested, four were held from Khambha, 25 from Junagadh, five from Sihor and four from Palitana in Bhavnagar.